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From Thursday this week any driver with a French registered car, who is flashed by a speed camera in Spain will no longer be able to get away without paying. The same will go for Spanish drivers snared by one of France's legion of speed radars.

French drivers caught flouting the speed limits in Spain can expect a fine through the post next time the return from holiday from across the Pyrenées and they will have to pay up or risk court action.

The crackdown is thanks to a reciprocal agreement between the two countries aimed at cracking down on speeding foreign drivers, which comes into force on Thursday.

Since speed cameras were first rolled out in France around 25 percent of recorded infractions were attributed to cars registered abroad, even though foreign vehicles represented only 5 percent of road traffic, according to statistics published by France’s road safety body.

That number shoots up dramatically to 50 percent during the summer, with all the holiday makers heading to France.

But until Thursday the French government has been unable to fill its coffers with the money from speeding fines.

And it appears Paris has lost out a decent income from speedsters from across the border in Spain.

Figures for 2012 show that almost 450,000 speeding violations caught on camera by France’s radars, belonged to cars registered in Spain.

French drivers appear to be slightly better behaved when they cross the border into Spain, with around 130,000 speeding violations attributed to cars registered in France.

Since July 2012, France has had bi-lateral agreements in place with Belgium and similar accords have been in place with, Switzerland and Luxembourg and Germany which mean any nationals from those countries flashed on French roads have had to pay up.

The EU is adopting this agreement progressively, except in Britain, Ireland and Denmark which have refused to sign up.

Any driver caught red handed by the police themselves however, has had to pay on-the-spot fines, and with France rolling out a new secret weapon against speeding drivers it is wiser than ever to stick to the speed limits.

French authorities can pursue foreign drivers for driving infractions such as speeding, not wearing seat belts, jumping a red light, drink or drug driving and driving whilst talking on mobile phones.

“We don’t have the same driving rules across Europe and certain motorists are allowed to drive faster in their own country, like on German motorways, but European drivers must respect the rules of the road for the country they are driving in,” said French Senator Odette Herviaux.